Evolution of Galaxies and Central Black Holes: Feeding and Feedback

10-14 August 2009Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

It is now widely recognized that nuclear activity is an important
ingredient in shaping the evolution of galaxies. With the advent of
techniques for estimating AGN black hole masses, even at large
redshifts, and the availability of large quasar samples over a broad
range of redshifts and selected at wavelengths ranging from the radio
to the X-ray, the field has undergone transformational change. A major
focus has become observational and theoretical investigation of
nuclear activity in the context of the galactic environment, which can
be described in terms of "feeding" and "feedback". AGN feeding is
tightly correlated with redshift-dependent star formation in the host
galaxy. AGN feedback, in the form of relativistic jets, massive winds,
and intense radiation, has been invoked to solve a broad range of
problems that arise in Cold Dark Matter-based models of galaxy
formation: setting the critical mass scale for galaxies, regulating
cooling in clusters, and shutting down star formation. Such feedback,
feeding, and their mutual interaction might possibly account for the
tight relationship between galactic bulge mass and central black hole
mass.

The purpose of the symposium was to bring together researchers, both
theorists and observers, from different specializations to better
define the current global landscape and to motivate new lines of
research. The timing of this symposium was propitious: HST was expected
to be in its first full cycle after SM4 refurbishment, and ALMA, JWST,
and LSST will be on the near-term horizon.